Blanck MassAnimated Violence Mild

On Animated Violence Mild, Blanck Mass continues exploring the compositional style he hinted at on World Eater, with an album full of energized songs with an emotional core. The songs are frantic and powerful, feeling right out of a bullet-hell videogame, with their pounding drums and soaring melodies.

The transition from the field recording of "Intro" to "Death Drop" feels like having the floor pulled out from underneath you as the album begins its freefall. Vicious, snarling vocals struggle to penetrate the walls of sound, creating ominous undertones that play well into the album's themes of grief in relation to consumerism and its effects on the world. Almost idealistic hope is juxtaposed with high-sheen excess in a way that makes the album an obviously personal emotional statement for Blanck Mass, and one that is effective in its concept as well as its execution.

Taking elements from trance, EBM and industrial music, the album creates moments of glossy emotion that emulate the excess of advertising and consumerism, while injecting genuine passion and emotion throughout. Animated Violence Mild is a powerful collection of music made in response to a phenomenon that is too pervasive to ignore in the world today, and one well worth the listen.
(Sacred Bones)